The heavy wooden door slowly opened.
Lian took one step inside and looked around the large office.
Just as he expected, this room looked more like the office of a minister or a military commander than the office of a member of the family.
Huge bookshelves reached all the way to the ceiling.
Old maps were hanging on the walls.
Several decorative swords and family heirlooms were also placed in different parts of the room.
Behind a large desk made from dark wood, a man in his forties was sitting.
He had black hair with a few silver strands, a calm face, and sharp, intelligent eyes, and his appearance had a clear resemblance to Lian.
When Lian entered, a genuine smile appeared on the man’s face.
"So, you finally arrived."
Lian closed the door.
"Hello, Uncle."
The man pointed at the chair across the desk.
"Sit."
Lian sat down, and silence filled the room for a few seconds.
The man only looked at him, not like a family elder, not like a politician, but like someone trying to see if the person in front of him was still the same one he had known two years ago.
"You’ve changed a lot." he finally said quietly.
Lian shrugged.
He had no answer to give.
Not during those two years, but during the last almost one month, he had truly changed.
A small smile appeared on the man’s face.
His name was Damian Vorhelm.
One of the Patriarch’s brothers, and one of the very few family members who had treated Lian well in the past, one of the family’s elders, and the commander of the family’s military forces.
"Before I answer your questions, or before we have a friendly talk, there are a few things you need to know."
Damian placed both hands on the desk, his expression became serious, and he continued.
"The family did not invite you."
Lian did not show even the smallest reaction.
This was almost exactly what he had expected, but it was also the reason why he was surprised.
"Some of the elders wanted you to come back, and some were strongly against it, there were many discussions, I think Aaron already told you about this."
"But when the news about the border city came out... everything changed."
His gaze became heavier.
"Your reputation became too big, it was no longer possible to pretend that you didn’t exist, although even that wasn’t the real reason, it was only the excuse that those of us who wanted you back used."
"And now?"
Damian gave a bitter smile.
"Now half of the family wants to keep you here, and the other half wants to throw you out again."
A short silence filled the room between them.
But that one sentence was almost everything Lian needed to know.
Nothing in this family had changed.
The Council of Elders still had the same opinion about him as before.
Both sides of the council canceled each other out.
That made the council remain neutral.
And in the end, it gave those two women the freedom to treat him however they wanted.
But he also realized one thing.
His uncle still had not said what had made both sides of the council finally agree to let him come back.
"There is one more thing, something that will let you return without any problem if you succeed... the competition that is going to be held."
"I heard about it, but it is definitely going to be much bigger than what I heard, right?" Lian nodded.
"That’s right, not bigger because there will be many participants, but because its results are extremely important." Damian explained.
"The elders are choosing the next generation of branch leaders, and the results of this competition will affect everyone’s political position."
"It will affect investments, the support of the different branches, and the future of the family."
He took his hand off the desk and placed it on his knee.
"Many of the family’s decisions for the next ten years will begin with this event."
This time even Lian was a little surprised.
He had thought the event was important, but not to this level.
He thought this event would only give everyone a general idea about who the main inheritance candidates would be.
But he did not expect them to use it to choose the future leaders of the branch families.
Even if they were branch families, the future leaders of those branches would eventually become the Council of Elders.
Their positions were not small at all.
Why was everyone in such a hurry to choose them?
Damian continued.
"That’s why I told you this isn’t a joke, but if you can finish among the top ten, the council will let you return without any problem, but it won’t be easy, let me tell you about your opponents."
He picked up several files from beside the desk and opened the first one.
"Cassius Vorhelm."
Lian knew this name.
Everyone knew him.
The Patriarch’s first son, twenty-three years old, and the main inheritance candidate.
Damian said.
"Level 41, the genius of the main branch, trained since childhood to become the next Patriarch, and the strongest young member of the current generation of the family."
Of course, his level was far too high to compete normally.
If he fought with his full strength, Lian had no chance of taking first place.
Even with all of his current strength, he still could not defeat someone who had already completed two Evolutions.
They would probably place restrictions on him and force his level to match the levels of his opponents.
The next file was opened.
"Evangeline Vorhelm."
Lian knew this name even better than Cassius.
She was the eldest daughter of his father’s second wife.
"A magic specialist, one of the most dangerous young members of the family, and probably the person with the strongest political support among the different branches."
The third file was opened.
This name was unfamiliar to Lian.
"Lucas Vorhelm."
Damian gave a faint smile.
"You don’t know him, he’s from one of the branch families, one year older than you, but he became famous during the last two years."
"He specializes in close combat, people gave him the title of the Battlefield Monster."
Then he closed the file.
"And these are only the most famous ones, there are still many other opponents, this competition is no joke, unfortunately your name has already been registered, and you have no choice but to participate."
Lian said nothing.
But he did not like hearing that he had no choice.
In the worst case, if he refused to participate, he would simply be removed from the family.
So what?
What did that change for him?
Would the world end?
Would his life be ruined?
Would he lose everything?
Of course not.
If he did not want to participate, then he simply would not participate.
No one could force him.
His uncle seemed to understand that Lian’s return was much more important to him than it was to Lian himself.
So he had no choice but to use his strongest card.
The thing that had almost driven the entire family crazy.
The Heavenly Treasury.
"The main reward is unrestricted access to the Heavenly Treasury, and depending on your final ranking, you can take a certain number of anything you want."
"The first place gets three treasures, second place gets two, and third place gets only one."
"What’s exactly inside?" Lian asked with some curiosity.
This was the only thing that could truly make him interested in joining the competition.
Even though he knew what the Heavenly Treasury was, other than knowing that powerful Skill Books and weapons were stored there, he did not know what else was inside.
Damian laughed.
"Everyone asks the same question."
Then he said calmly.
"The Heavenly Treasury is not just a treasure warehouse, inside it are ancient inheritances that were obtained from the nine previous Ruined Realms, inheritances left behind by beings who had reached the peak of the world’s power."
"Forbidden techniques, S-Rank weapons, Ancient Rank weapons, Legendary Rank weapons, and things that even some of the family’s elders cannot access, only the Patriarchs have the right to use them."
"That’s why everyone has gone crazy, that’s why they’re willing to tear each other apart even for one quota, because with that quota you can enter any section you want."
Lian stayed silent.
If that was really true, then why would they allow someone to enter such a place without any restriction on which section they could enter?
He asked that exact question.
"I don’t know either, this competition was the Patriarch’s order, it wasn’t part of the original birthday celebration plan." Damian answered calmly.
"If it’s his order, then there’s nothing more to say, no one can understand what he’s planning, anyway, speaking of him, I saw one of his wives today."
"You saw one of those two today?"
"Yeah." Lian nodded.
Damian’s smile completely disappeared.
"Stay away from those two."
This time his tone was completely serious.
"I’m not joking, more than anyone else, they are the ones who lose the most from your return, and they were the biggest opponents of your return, the balance of power that exists now... wasn’t created by chance."
"It took years, years of planning, years of deals, years of removing rivals before those two built the current structure."
Damian looked outside.
"In the Patriarch’s absence, those two women rebuilt almost the entire family structure according to their own wishes, and the whole balance is built around their own children."
Then he turned back and looked directly at Lian.
"And you are exactly the person who can destroy that balance."
The room fell into silence for a few moments.
In the end, Damian let out a sigh.
"There is one more thing you need to know, those two women are very dangerous, much more dangerous than you think, during these years they have taken control of almost the entire family structure."
"Every important decision that is made... every appointment, every budget, every project... they influence it, and they practically have veto power."
"If that’s true, then why did the family insist that I return? Couldn’t they stop it?" Lian raised an eyebrow.
Damian laughed with mockery, a short but real laugh, then said quietly.
"There is still one thing that those two women fear."
He stayed silent for a few seconds.
It was as if even he could feel that person’s overwhelming presence just by remembering him.
Then he spoke the name.
"The Patriarch."